Business Directories

Job vacancies in hospitality triples in Mideast

Dubai, June 11, 2014

The number of job vacancies in the Gulf’s hospitality sector has more than tripled from 18,000 in 2009 to 61,000 in 2013, according to a report by Catererglobal.com, a leading hospitality recruitment specialist website in the Middle East.

The new Hospitality Employment report used data from more than 150,000 active candidates seeking employment in the region.

Its findings provides employers and potential employees with an accurate appraisal of the current state of the region’s talent market and an insight to how companies can overcome many of the challenges that exist.

The job vacancies have increased by more than 25 per cent since 2012 but the impact of this has not all been positive, as HR managers are struggling to fill many of these positions with quality candidates that have the required skills, said the report.

Pete Willis, director for Middle East at Catererglobal.com, said: “As with many other industries, the region’s hospitality sector was negatively impacted by the global recession but it is clear from the findings of our Hospitality Employment Index that the industry has more than started to recover.

“However, what is also clear is that the battle for talent has intensified and, to sustain this growth, employers are having to to work hard to attract new recruits, both locally and from outside of the region, that have the appropriate skills,” he added.

There has also been a significant rise in vacancies, across most parts of the sector, particularly in management posts which have become exceptionally competitive, found the report.

While the number of management posts has remained relatively steady, the number of non-management posts have increased by 32 per cent during the second half of last year, particularly in front office and housekeeping vacancies, it said.

“Hospitality is a key driver for many countries in the Gulf with governments pushing money into the tourism industry to support economic diversification. This means it’s imperative for the industry to work with accurate data to support the sector’s growth,” said Willis.

“The feedback from the industry has been extremely positive, which has guided our decision to make this a biannual report - making it the go-to resource for anybody interested in recruitment and the hospitality sector,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service